Play during childhood is essential to growth and learning. Little is known about whether categories of toys moderate play behaviors at different ages, or how children interact with toys that are simple, appropriate, or complex for their developmental level. Two hundred and forty-three children between the ages of 1 and 8 years, divided into four…

This study aims to examine the views of mothers regarding plays and toys which are of great significance also for children with intellectual retardation and learning disability. This study was conducted through a mixed method by using qualitative and quantitative methods together. Seventy-five mothers who participated in the study were chosen by…

Research indicates that vocabulary development--linked to conceptual growth and comprehension--predicts student academic achievement throughout the elementary, middle, and high school grades. Intelligence increases as vocabulary continues to develop. The iSpy program provides high-quality, content-rich classroom books, learning manipulatives, and…

Peer rejections impair children's well-being in ECEC, impede their social and emotional development, and increase the risk of multiple forms of peer adversities. This study explores children's need for empathy when experiencing rejections from peers in free play situations in ECEC. The data were collected through video-recorded dialogical…

This paper implements a feminist new material lens to illuminate how the spaces and objects of play are actively involved in the enactment and normalisation of gender violence in kindergarten. Findings from data collected in two Canadian kindergartens show how the familiar and mundane spatial-material arrangements of play, namely the use of…

Unstructured play on playgrounds is beneficial to children's development, but children with disabilities are often unable to use playgrounds in the same ways as their peers without disabilities. No research to date has focused exclusively on the playground experiences of children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Therefore,…

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected deep reflection in higher education classrooms: how do we attract and retain students to (temporary but nevertheless increasing) online learning experiences, how do we keep them at our universities and colleges, and how do we give students a learning experience from which they will remember meaningful…

Role-play is a natural and dominant form of early childhood activity. While playing, a child masters new forms of behavior, learns to interact with others, and develops imagination and self-regulation skills. The existing methods of play assessment are based on different theoretical approaches that variously define both the criteria for play and…

Pretend play is important for children's development. However, recent research indicates that, as preschool children age and get more proficient at pretend play, they prefer real objects. We examined whether toddlers prefer real objects when they are younger as well as when they are older and more proficient in pretend play situations. Forty-three…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder often struggle to establish and keep positive relationships with peers and adults due to experiencing communication and social difficulties. It has been shown that humanoid robots and virtual agents can enable interventionists to maximize engagement during instruction and program for generalization. Having…

The author describes how, during the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians embraced telehealth for vulnerable children struggling with intense feelings, learning challenges, and isolation. She suggests that generating playful engagement, however difficult without the toys and comforts of the traditional office, remains crucial. She discusses the stresses…

We examined 6- to 9-year-olds' (N = 60, 35 girls, 34% White, 23% Hispanic, 2% Black/African American, 2% Asian/Asian American, 22% Mixed Ethnicity/Race, 17% Unavailable, collected April-September 2019 in Providence, RI, USA) first-person perspectives on their exploration of museum exhibits. We coded goal setting, goal completion, and behaviors…

In early childhood education, the integration of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) are advocated as contemporary educational goals. However, integration of STEAM is not defined in the early childhood context. We claim to 'integrate' and 'devise integration pedagogies', but there is still no clear-cut message on what…

Play is a developmentally appropriate practice for young children and enhances children's holistic development. However, recent educational policies and pressure to focus on academic goals and high-stakes testing have resulted in an emphasis on teacher-directed instruction, minimizing play-based child directed experiences in kindergarten…

Background: Urban and rural areas have been experiencing major demographic and structural changes, characterized by an aging population in rural areas and a growth of cities in number and size. However, it is poorly researched how children's physical activity and screen time developed in urban and rural areas. To address this deficit, we…